Sreesanth

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Sreesanth
India
Personal information
Full name	Sreesanth
Nickname	Sree, Gopu
Born	6 February 1983 (1983-02-06) (age 25)
	Kothamangalam, Kerala, India
Role	Bowler
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm fast-medium
International information
Test debut (cap 253)	1 March 2006: v England
Last Test	9 August 2007: v England
ODI debut (cap 162)	25 October 2005: v Sri Lanka
Last ODI	November 18, 2007: v Pakistan
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2002-present	Kerala
Career statistics
	Tests	ODIs	FC	List A
Matches	11	34	39	52
Runs scored	167	25	338	91
Batting average	15.18	2.80	9.65	8.11
100s/50s	0/0	-/-	0/0	-/0
Top score	35	10*	35	33
Balls bowled	2387	1537	3891	2119
Wickets	46	50	124	69
Bowling average	28.23	32.95	31.37	35.00
5 wickets in innings	1	1	3	1
10 wickets in match	0	n/a	0	n/a
Best bowling	5/40	6/55	5/40	6/55
Catches/stumpings	2/-	6/-	7/-	5/-
As of 05 December 2007 Source: [1]

Sreesanth pronunciation (help·info) (born February 6, 1983 in Kothamangalam, Kerala, India), also known as S. Sreesanth and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, is an Indian cricketer. He is a right-arm fast-medium-pace bowler and a right-handed tail-ender batsman. A player of passion, he is noted for his exuberant and emotional behaviour, especially whilst appealing for and celebrating wickets. Such trademark behaviour has seen him frequently fined for violating the player conduct guidelines of the International Cricket Council. He is known to bowl at speeds mostly around 140kmph/88mph.

Contents 1 Early years 2 ODI career 3 Test career 4 World Twenty20 Championship, 2007 5 Altercation with Harbhajan Singh 6 Outside cricket 7 Name 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Early years

Sreesanth initially was a leg-spinner in his childhood, modelling his action on India's leading Test wicket-taker and now Test captain Anil Kumble. However, his habit of bowling yorkers led him to convert to fast bowling, after being encouraged by his elder brother.^[1] Following in the footsteps of fellow Kerala fast bowler Tinu Yohannan, who earned selection to the National Cricket Academy in 2000, Sreesanth was selected for the MRF Pace foundation in Chennai. He then made his first-class debut against Goa in the 2002-03 domestic season, claiming 22 wickets in seven matches in the Ranji Trophy^[2] and meriting a selection for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy squad in the same season.^[3]

He was selected for India-A side in a tour match against the visiting New Zealand side at Rajkot. He claimed one wicket in twelve overs after being restricted with a hamstring injury. He also missed five Ranji Trophy games in that season, although he still travelled with the side for away games. This led to rumours that an astrologer convinced him to take a break from competition to preserve his longevity in the sport, which Sreesanth categorically denied, maintaining that he was training only to regain his fitness.^[1]

In November 2004, Sreesanth entered the record books when he took a hat-trick against Himachal Pradesh in a Ranji trophy game, the first time it was achieved by a Kerala bowler, earning him the nickname The Prince of hat-tricks amongst Keralites. He was selected to represent India B in the Challenger Trophy in October 2005, a domestic limited-overs tournament.^[4] His strong performance in that tournament, being the leading wicket taker (7) with the third best bowling average^[5] led to selection for the Indian team for the home ODI series against Sri Lanka. ^[6]

[edit] ODI career

Sreesanth was given the new ball^[7] in the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Nagpur. After being punished early by Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya, Sreesanth returned to claim his first two ODI wickets at the end of the match.^[8] He was left out of the team and was later recalled for the fourth, fifth and sixth ODIs as coach Greg Chappell tinkered with the line-up. He was retained in the squad^[9] but did not play in the 5 match series against South Africa, but played all five matches in the tour to Pakistan, recording a haul of 4/58 in the fifth ODI against Pakistani cricket team in Karachi. A good home series against the England in April 2006, in which he claimed 10 wickets at an average of 16.3, including a career best 6/55 in the final match at Indore (in which he was awarded the man of the match award [2]),^[10] led to him subsequently being awarded a BCCI contract, in the C-grade in May.^[11]

His disappointing economy rate led him to be left out of the ICC Champions Trophy squad of 14, with the beneficiary being R. P. Singh. He made an unexpected come back to the blue squad due to the injury to Ajit Agarkar later in the tournament. He was also out of the Indian ODI team for the England tour.

[edit] Test career

Sreesanth was selected for his first Test squad in the home series against England in March 2006, in place of Zaheer Khan. He claimed 4/95 in his debut appearance in the 1st Test in Nagpur, where he opened the bowling with Irfan Pathan.^[12] He was ruled out of the second Test in Mohali due to illness, but recovered and captured five wickets as well a 29* with the bat in the Third Test in Mumbai. With the axing of Pathan, Sreesanth became India's leading pace bowler on the tour of the West Indies. He missed the second Test due to an injury but managed to claim his best match figures of 5/72 in the 4th Test in Kingston, Jamaica.^[13]

Sreesanth's most significant performance to date in Test cricket was his role in the 1st Test of India's 2006 tour to South Africa at Johannesburg. After losing the limited-overs series 4-0, Sreesanth produced took 5-40 in a display of pace and swing to help dismiss South Africa. This performance helped to bowl South Africans out for just 84, leading to first Indian win on South African soil, for which he was named man of the match. Again, Sreesanth's emotional antics, which have led him to be regarded by some commentators as eccentric, were frequently noted. He was fined after breaching the ICC's advertising logo policy, and also for "conduct contrary to the spirit of the game" after sending off Hashim Amla after dismissing him.^[14] He was also involved in a confrontation while batting against paceman Andre Nel, responding to a taunt from the fast bowler by charging the next ball, hitting it for six, and then running after Nel to perform a dance.^[15]

Sreesanth courted controversy once again during the fourth day of the second test of India's 2007 tour to England at Trent Bridge. He was fined half of his match fee for deliberately shoulder barging England captain Michael Vaughan whilst walking back to his mark. He also bowled a beamer at batsman Kevin Pietersen, which the latter had to take drastic action to avoid. Sreesanth however did immediately apologise afterwards. After the match he said that the ball had slipped from his hand. Soon later he bowled a no-ball where he overstepped the crease by 2 feet, leading to speculation it was deliberate, the delivery was a bouncer to Paul Collingwood. Former England captain Michael Atherton called for Sreesanth to be banned for the Pietersen beamer, saying that Sreesanth couldn't control his on-pitch emotions.[3] [4]

[edit] World Twenty20 Championship, 2007

In September 2007, Sreesanth joined the Indian team in South Africa for the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup following his omission for the one-day series in England. Although his performance in the tournament lacked consistency, Sreesanth managed breakthroughs at critical junctures that were vital to his team's success. During the semifinal match against Australia which India won, Sreesanth got the vital wickets of the Australian openers Gilchrist and Hayden. The latter proved to be decisive in turning the match round in India's favour. In the final against Pakistan, Sreesanth proved expensive with the ball, but became the centre of Indian celebrations as he held on to the catch in the last over that sealed Pakistan's innings and made Indians the World Twenty20 champions.

[edit] Altercation with Harbhajan Singh

On April 25, 2008, following the victory of his Kings XI Punjab's victory in the Indian Premier League over the Mumbai Indians at Mohali, Sreesanth was allegedly slapped under his eye by Harbhajan Singh, the captain of Mumbai. The incident came to light as Sreesanth was caught by TV cameras sobbing inconsolably on the field before the presentation ceremony. Sreesanth had since downplayed the incident saying he had no complaints against Harbhajan who was "like an elder brother" to him. Harbhajan's team had lost their third consecutive match when he apparently reacted violently to Sreesanth's approaching him and saying "hard luck". The BCCI has launched an investigation into the incident and decided to ban Harbhajan for the remainder 11 matches of the Twenty20.^{[16][17][18][19]}

[edit] Outside cricket

Sreesanth studies psychology at university when not playing cricket, and speaks English, Tamil, and Hindi in addition to his mother tongue Malayalam. In his early years, he was a breakdancer, becoming a national champion when he was in the eighth grade.^[1]

[edit] Name

In the English-language media, Sreesanth's full name has been the source of some confusion. He has been variously referred to as "Sree Sreesanth",^[20] "Sri Sreesanth",^[21] "Shantha Sreesanth".^[22] and "Shanthakumaran Sreesanth".^[23] He has also stated in the past that he wished to be known as "Sree Santh".^[24] In September 2007, Sreesanth said that his name was just "Sreesanth" and that the other variations were incorrect:

"It’s Sreesanth. There is no Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, there is no S. Sreesanth. There was this function recently where they called me Sree Sreesanth, then Sree, and finally S Sreesanth. It’s just Sreesanth."^[25]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• CricInfo Player Profile : Sreesanth
• Cricket Archive Player Profile : Sreesanth

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